She gave him a curt nod. He must be the father of one of the other kids, then – but not a very active one, since she couldn’t remember seeing his face before.
Or maybe he was new in town. She would try to be polite.
Running her own shop had smoothed some of the rough edges off of Laurie’s social skills; it was much easier to talk to one person about books than it was to navigate a crowd.
But still, when a strange man approached her – even in broad daylight in the middle of town – she felt a fear that ran deeper than any conscious thought.
When her ex-husband turned violent, it triggered a primal fear that had never really gone dormant again. She hated being afraid, and she was good at masking it… but it seemed that actually overcoming it would take more time.
“Gorgeous weather we’re having.” The man took a step closer.
Laurie stepped back and looked up at the sky. It was overcast with a thin layer of clouds that turned the whole firmament bright white. There was a faint rainbow visible in the distance. Typical Pualena weather.
The man took a step closer, saying something about blue skies.
Laurie looked at him and stood very still, her nervous system caught between flight and freeze.
“I’ve got a sailboat over in Kona,” he continued. “We could take the kids out sometime…”
“Mia!” Laurie cupped her hands and shouted to her daughter,who looked up with a start. “Time to go!”
Her ten year old spent a few minutes saying goodbye to each kid individually, but Laurie didn’t shout again. The man had taken the hint and moved away.
By the time Mia came over, Laurie’s heart was nearly back to its normal speed.
Can I have a treat?Mia asked as she jogged across the lawn.
“Hello to you too,” Laurie said.
“Hi. Hello. Can we get a cornetto?” Mia pointed across the street to Pualena Café.
Not today,she replied.
Mia pulled a face. “But Rory and Olivia goevery single dayafter school!”
It’s their dad’s restaurant,Laurie told her.
She scrunched up her nose. “So?”
You get to go to the bookshop every day.
Lucky me,she signed, rolling her eyes.
“Youarelucky,” Laurie said out loud, feeling amused and irritated at the same time.
“Yeah, okay, I know,” Mia muttered.
“Come on.” Laurie started down the street, and Mia fell into step beside her. Before they had even been walking a full minute, she was smiling again.
“We got to use the microscopes today,” she said and signed. “We got water from a pond that has turtles in it, and then we looked at drops of pond water with the microscopes, and we drew all the little tiny animals that we found! I used watercolors too.”
“That’s so cool,” Laurie said, squeezing Mia’s shoulder. “I’m excited to see them.”
She missed her daughter during the day, but she was gladthat she had decided to let her attend the co-op. They went on amazing field trips, spent plenty of time outside, and were constantly doing engaging projects that sparked the kids’ creativity and encompassed multiple subjects at once.
“Mom, look! It’s ‘Io!” Mia veered off towards Haumona Shave Ice.
Her friend ‘Iolani stood at the window of the small wooden building. He was only a few months older than Mia, but already a full head taller, destined to be as big as his dad and granddad.